DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A TWIN DISC METALLOGRAPHIC POLISHING MACHINE
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Year of Publication
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Abstract
In this project, a metal polishing machine, an advantageous apparatus in the testing and property investigation of metals, is designed and fabricated. The essence is to produce a simple and affordable piece of apparatus that can be used in research centres, laboratories, and workshops of Nigerian higher institutions and can serve as an alternative to the imported and costly polishing
machines currently in use. The design uses motor-powered grinding wheels of appropriate composition to be rotated against a marked-out area of a sample metal piece to be polished and subsequently etched for metallographic purposes. A considerably chemically inactive liquid does the etching in Nita solution comprising nitric acid and ethanol. Mainly dependent on the type of
metal being polished, water is used for flushing the polished area to ensure a smooth polished surface that retains the original microstructural composition and arrangement inherent in the original sample as it where before polishing. The polishing wheels are fine-grained and dense structured abrasive materials bonded together with an appropriate bonding agent. Provision is
made for wheel insertion and removal from the motor spindle to accommodate different wheel types- either with a soft grinding abrasive material for polishing hard metals or hard grinding abrasive material for soft metals. A tank will also be incorporated into the machine to aid the flow of fluid needed for this experimentation. Thus, with the locally fabricated polishing machine from this project, it is possible to etch different types of metals for proper surface exposure for optical or electron microscopic investigations and analysis.
machines currently in use. The design uses motor-powered grinding wheels of appropriate composition to be rotated against a marked-out area of a sample metal piece to be polished and subsequently etched for metallographic purposes. A considerably chemically inactive liquid does the etching in Nita solution comprising nitric acid and ethanol. Mainly dependent on the type of
metal being polished, water is used for flushing the polished area to ensure a smooth polished surface that retains the original microstructural composition and arrangement inherent in the original sample as it where before polishing. The polishing wheels are fine-grained and dense structured abrasive materials bonded together with an appropriate bonding agent. Provision is
made for wheel insertion and removal from the motor spindle to accommodate different wheel types- either with a soft grinding abrasive material for polishing hard metals or hard grinding abrasive material for soft metals. A tank will also be incorporated into the machine to aid the flow of fluid needed for this experimentation. Thus, with the locally fabricated polishing machine from this project, it is possible to etch different types of metals for proper surface exposure for optical or electron microscopic investigations and analysis.
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